I telephoned this morning to advise the pharmacy that one of our patients was temporarily in South Yorkshire recovering from surgery. He had asked that we set up Ellisons as his nominated pharmacy as he requires pain relief. Unfortunately we were not able to do this due to technical problems with the national spine. I phoned Ellisons to ask if we could fax the request instead and received a very curt reply that they don't accept faxes. Given that I was putting myself out for the patient, I find it extraordinary that this pharmacy was not prepared to accept a one-off fax so that this patient could have his medication. The person I spoke with was abrupt and very rude, though they did check with a colleague and I could here that person being equally as unhelpful. Just makes me appreciate how lucky we are to have our local pharmacies who are always helpful and put the patient first. Everyone who works in healthcare is under pressure, but we should be working together in the best interest of the patient.

My son goes to this chemist every Thursday to pick up the same medication. We are aware there are cheaper versions of the tablet prescribed, infact it is rare to get the proper one. However, my son has told this chemist that a certain substitute tablet makes him sick and they made a note of this on the computer. Last week he was given this tablet and was told they had no others in stock. The chemist advised him to take two today and come back tomorrow, when they would have the others in. My son was adamant he could not take them and was very upset. He left feeling very anxious and had to return the next day. My son has mental health problems and this scene added to his anxiety . The chemist was full and all eyes on my son. This was not his fault, but the chemist who either did not look on the computer or chose to ignore it. I attend this chemist and find them to be very slow.